Spouse or Child of U.S. Citizen

Spouse or Child of a U.S. Citizen

A “child” of a U.S. citizen is someone who is the son or daughter, whether biological or adopted, under the age of 21. The U.S. citizen parent may submit an I-130 petition on behalf of the child, with documentation showing the parental relationship. If the petition is approved, the child may apply for an immigrant visa, which will grant him or her lawful permanent residence.

The spouse of a U.S. citizen has several options. If the spouse is living abroad and wishes to join the U.S. citizen spouse, he or she will need to apply for a K3 visa. If both the spouse and the U.S. citizen are currently living abroad, they are able to submit both the I-130 petition and immigrant visa application at the consulate post where they are residing.

If the spouse and the U.S. citizen are physically in the U.S., the spouse may submit an I-130 and I-485 (Adjustment of Status) application. Significantly, if the spouse is able to show that his or her last entry was lawful, the spouse is able to apply for a green card in the U.S. even if he or she no longer has lawful immigration status or has worked without employment authorization.

Conditional Lawful Permanent Residence

If the marriage occurred less than 2 years from the time that lawful permanent residence is granted to the U.S. citizen’s spouse (if living abroad, that will be the time of entry to the U.S.), the spouse will be assigned conditional lawful permanent resident status. This means that in the 90 days before the spouse’s conditional permanent resident status expires, the spouse must file a petition requesting the removal of the conditional status (i.e., file an I-751 Petition).

In this petition, the spouse must show that he or she had entered into a bona fide marriage. This does not mean that the spouse must remain in an unhappy marriage, but it does mean that if the marriage ended or is ending, the spouse had been in a genuine marriage up until the end. In this situation, it is best to consult an immigration lawyer to discuss the right approach to your case.

Naturalization

After the conditional status is removed, the spouse will be eligible for naturalization. Generally, a naturalization applicant must have been a lawful permanent resident for 5 years. However, the spouse of a U.S. citizen need only wait 3 years before being eligible to apply for naturalization.﻿